The ability to easily carry articles in a “hands-free” manner is especially desirable in activities such as bicycling, hiking, skiing, skating and, in particular, the sport of paintball. The game of paintball has enjoyed great success in recent years. In the game, each one of two or more teams tries to capture the opposing team's flag. The players on the teams each carry a carbon dioxide powered gun that shoots paintballs—gelatin covered spherical capsules which contain a colored liquid—a considerable distance. When a player is hit with a paintball fired from a gun, the paintball ruptures and leaves a colored “splat” on the hit player who is then “out” and must leave the game. Since optimizing the number of opponents hit is the underlying concept, any means of attenuating sound indicating the location of a player, or diminishing the dimensions of the target presented, are advantageous. Depending on the size of the field and the number of players, paintball games usually have a time limit. During this time period, each team tries to capture the opposing team's flag. Victory occurs when a player successfully carries the captured flag back to his or her team's flag station and hangs it.
The players of this sport must carry pods containing paint to refill their paintball guns while playing. The paint-filled pods can be heavy, inasmuch as pods comprise canisters with flip-up lids and may carry sufficient paint to provide up to one hundred forty (140) rounds. Thus, the harness used for paintball should be sturdy, capable of carrying much weight, and provide good back support to the user. At the same time, it is important that the harness not interfere with the user's mobility and flexibility in the upper body and arms. Additionally, another consideration with paintball harnesses is that the players may want to carry differently sized pods depending on the game and, therefore, automatically accommodate pods of varying dimensions. Consequently, it would be advantageous to have a harness that provides good back support, does not interfere with the user's mobility, and automatically accommodates the transport of different numbers or sizes of pods.
Numerous means of transporting paintball pods are known, some utilizing supportive belts in combination with various sized compartments. U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,156, Modular Component System, issued Aug. 31, 1993, discloses a modular system of interchangeable compartments mounted on a support member such as a belt by a looped weave-hook system like VELCRO. The compartment modules may be removed from the support surface by forceable disengagement. A typical compartment and belt combination is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,192, Belt-Mounted Detachable Holster for Holding A Chemical Deterrent Canister, issued Aug. 22, 1995 to Hodges et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,042, Harness Carrier, issued Dec. 30, 1997 to Peacock discloses a back harness comprising a flexible or semi-rigid material such as polyethylene or laminated board, attached to the outside of which is a container or means for supporting one or more containers. And U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,642, Modular Carrier Assembly Adapted for Paintball, issued Dec. 12, 2000, discloses a carrier assembly comprised of a belt portion and a pack portion that are readily attachable and detachable from each other.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a unitary harness carrier for accommodating the transport of a variable number of paintball pods, irrespective of dimension;
Another object is to provide a harness carrier, the external dimensions of which decrease as the paintball pods transported therein are discarded;
A further object is to provide a paintball pod carrier enabling rapid pod removal with minimal physical motion and sound;
And yet, a further object is to provide a unitary harness carrier for paintball pods in the form of belt means adapted to securely retain paintball pods utilizing flip-up lids until removal of pods for use in association with a paintball gun.